Non-Thermal Aging of Supercooled Liquids in Optical Cavities
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866915867896315904 |
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| author | Hasyim, Muhammad R. Damiani, Arianna Hoffmann, Norah M. |
| author_facet | Hasyim, Muhammad R. Damiani, Arianna Hoffmann, Norah M. |
| contents | Aging is a hallmark of disordered materials such as glasses, plastics, and pharmaceuticals, where it often limits long-term stability and performance. In practice, aging is controlled through global parameters like temperature or pressure, which act uniformly on the entire system. Here we introduce a fundamentally different approach, using light confined in optical cavities as a precise and selective tool to guide aging dynamics. We show that a supercooled liquid coupled to an optical cavity undergoes non-thermal aging, where aging is induced by light without a thermal quench. Light selectively pumps fast vibrational modes while the bath temperature remains unchanged, reshaping the slow structural dynamics of the liquid. The cavity-coupled liquid thereby behaves as if it were structurally colder than its surroundings. Exploiting this effective structural cooling together with the timescale separation, we introduce cavity configurational feedback ($\mathrm{C^2F}$) cooling, which uses cavity coupling to reach progressively lower structural temperatures. Our results establish a connection between glass physics and strong light-matter interactions and open a new route toward optical control of aging, glass formation, and nonequilibrium materials dynamics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_15693 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Non-Thermal Aging of Supercooled Liquids in Optical Cavities Hasyim, Muhammad R. Damiani, Arianna Hoffmann, Norah M. Statistical Mechanics Materials Science Optics Aging is a hallmark of disordered materials such as glasses, plastics, and pharmaceuticals, where it often limits long-term stability and performance. In practice, aging is controlled through global parameters like temperature or pressure, which act uniformly on the entire system. Here we introduce a fundamentally different approach, using light confined in optical cavities as a precise and selective tool to guide aging dynamics. We show that a supercooled liquid coupled to an optical cavity undergoes non-thermal aging, where aging is induced by light without a thermal quench. Light selectively pumps fast vibrational modes while the bath temperature remains unchanged, reshaping the slow structural dynamics of the liquid. The cavity-coupled liquid thereby behaves as if it were structurally colder than its surroundings. Exploiting this effective structural cooling together with the timescale separation, we introduce cavity configurational feedback ($\mathrm{C^2F}$) cooling, which uses cavity coupling to reach progressively lower structural temperatures. Our results establish a connection between glass physics and strong light-matter interactions and open a new route toward optical control of aging, glass formation, and nonequilibrium materials dynamics. |
| title | Non-Thermal Aging of Supercooled Liquids in Optical Cavities |
| topic | Statistical Mechanics Materials Science Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.15693 |